Wednesday, May 5, 2010

The Candidate

This one's going to be painful, y'all.

I can't even deal with what happened on the Island yet... so let's begin with the events of AlternaLost:


Locke is in recovery from his emergency spinal surgery. Jack is there to tell Locke he's a "candidate" for a new surgery, saying, "I can fix you."



But Locke turns down the surgery, something Jack can't comprehend. And because he can't leave well enough alone, Jack decides to find out the details of how Locke ended up in the wheelchair. He tracks down Dr. Nadler, who did some oral surgery on Locke and "Anthony Cooper" a few years ago, following their accident.


Did anyone else get creepy vibes coming from Bernard?

Jack tracks down Anthony Cooper in a nursing home, where he also runs into Helen. She spills that Cooper is Locke's father, and we see he's also in a wheelchair and a vegetative state.

Jack catches up with Locke as he's being discharged from the hospital. (Oh, before that, Jack was at Locke's bedside, and as he's sleeping, Locke mumbles, "I wish you had believed me.") Locke gives Jack the details of his accident (a plane crash!)... adding that he was the pilot and his dad, his very first passenger. Something went wrong and now it's Locke's fault that his dad is the way he is. Jack says to Locke, "Whatever happened, happened" and that he needs to let his father go... just as Locke told him to about his own father. Again, Jack tries to get Locke to agree to the surgery, but Locke wheels away. Jack yells after him, "I wish you'd believe me!"... and although Locke pauses for a moment, he keeps on going.



OK, now onto the hard part... the events that happened on the Island:

Somebody hold me...


Jack wakes up in one of the outriggers, finding Sayid on the beach of Hydra Island, who tells Jack that the MIB camp was attacked (no sign of Ben or Miles)


I'm not the only one who gets nervous each time we see an outrigger, am I? I'm still waiting to see who it was Juliet (may she rest in peace) shot during the chase last season...

Anyway, Sayid tells Jack that Flocke saved him, and Jack wants to know why he was brought to Hydra. Flocke shows up and answers, "Because your friends got themselves captured" and he needs Jack's help to rescue them. Jack agrees to help, but insists he won't leave the Island. Locke tells Jack the reason he should be trusted is because while Flocke could kill Jack and his friends, he's chosen not to.

Sawyer, Kate, Jin, Sun, Lapidus, Claire, and Hurley are taken by Widmore's team to the cages. Widmore asks why the sonar fence isn't "live" yet (does this mean it wasn't when Flocke confronted Widmore on the beach???) and that it had better be soon, because "he's coming".

"He" being Flocke, of course... and come he does, taking out Widmore's men. Jack arrives to get the rest of the gang out of the cages.



*******

Here was my favorite Hurley moment of the episode:


"And we're dead."

*******


After finding Sayid in the jungle, the group meets up with Flocke at the plane. Flocke has found explosives on the plane... and since it's not safe, they'll be taking the sub off the island. Sawyer hangs back and asks Jack for help in keeping Flocke off the sub once everyone else is onboard.

As they come to the dock, Sawyer, Frank, Jin, Sun and Hurley run to the sub first. They make it safely into the sub, so Kate, Hurley, Claire and Sayid make a run for it, with Jack and Flocke bringing up the rear. But before the second group can board, Jack pushes Flocke into the water... they're fired upon by some more of Widmore's men.

I can't believe Kate got shot!

I can't believe they left Claire behind!

Flocke is pissed.

Or so it seems. But then when Claire is running after the sub, Flocke grabs her and tells her, "Trust me, you don't want to be on that sub."


On board, Jack is tending to Kate. Looking into his pack for a shirt to stop her bleeding, he finds instead a bomb. Which was placed there by Flocke, using the same explosives he had found on the plane.

Everyone starts to panic... except for Jack. He tries to convince everyone that they'll be fine... that if Flocke could have killed them, he'd have done so by now. Sawyer's not buying it... but Jack says, "James, you have to trust me."


Has Jack referred to Sawyer as "James" before? Does anyone know?

Sorry, Doc... but Sawyer doesn't trust you, and he pulls the wires. The bomb doesn't go off, but the timer starts ticking down faster. Sayid tells Jack where to find Desmond, and that "it's going to be you". He then runs off... WITH THE BOMB!


Although I'm still reeling at the loss, I'm glad he sacrificed himself to save the others... I think we were all hoping there was still some good left in Sayid.

From the explosion, Sun gets trapped. Hurley and Kate make their escape while Jack, Sawyer and Jin try to free Sun... until Sawyer gets knocked out. Jin convinces Jack to save himself and Sawyer while he stays behind with Sun...


OK, we all know what happened next...


Geez, just posting that pic has me welling up! Cuse and Lindelof, you two are cruel, cruel bastards.

Jack makes it to the beach with Sawyer (who's breathing, yay!) and here come Kate and Hurley. While watching what happened to Jin and Sun did bring me to tears, it was
this that reduced me to a blubbering mess...


I know I wasn't the only one to be done in by Hurley's sob.

Jack breaking down didn't help my weeping situation, either.




The episode ends with Flocke knowing the sub has sunk, but not everyone on board died. How does he know this? He then starts to walk off, and Claire asks where he's going. His reply?

"To finish what I started."



A few more thoughts:

  • If anything, this episode proved once and for all that Flocke is evil.
  • Are we to assume Lapidus is dead? I know we didn't actually see him make it off the sub... but we didn't actually see him die, either.
  • Cara's thoughts: "I'm thinking more and more that AlternaLost is the one that is real." What do you think, Sussers? Could AlternaLost be the "real" timeline?

Let's discuss!

10 comments:

CaraBee said...

Oh yes, there was blubbering during and after this episode at my house. Sun and Jin? WAAAAAA!

I totally agree about Flocke. I did have my doubts, but I am quite certain that he is ALL bad. I think the reason he knew there was at least one alive is that he still felt the pull of the island. He can't leave until they are all gone.

With each episode, I feel more strongly that the island will wind up being the dream or something. It's just too weird. The good and evil. The smoke monster and the polar bear. I don't know how they're going to do it, though. Just three more weeks and we'll know!

Elena said...

Ahhh....Hurley's heart wrenching sob was too much. It broke my heart!

Rebecca Jo said...

Yep... I was teary but holding it together pretty well when Jin & Sun died... but when Hurley lost it - I thought my eyes were going to explode with tears (which I think they did)... oh, that just tore me UP!!!!

Lula! said...

haoihgioehcpikanvo'iwdhgvaio'bKdBJOdb'odBLJv DJOVGHOUb .

That's about all I was able to text to y'all on Tuesday night. 'Cause I was, literally, in a puddle on the floor. A weeping, sobbing mess.

I started crying when Sayid sacrificed himsef to save the others. "OH! There's good in him yet! He's NOT a killer. He redeemed himself. I LOVE YOU SAYID...waaaaaaahhhhh!"

And then I knew...KNEW...what was gonna happen with Jin & Sun.

The footage of the sub sinking...combined with Michael Giacchino's hauntingly beautiful score...and then--THEIR HANDS? Oh, dear Jesus...I was weeping.

I managed to pull myself together at the very end.

Then Hurley broke down and I tried my best to hurl myself through the TV, into his arms, so that we could comfort each other through our wracking sobs.

It didn't work.

So I kept crying.

************************************************

OK, so after I pulled it together (2 days later), these are my thoughts:

1. I did notice Jack's backpack...briefly...just a flicker on my radar..."Huh. Something's up with that." I had no idea what--certainly not that there was a bomb. But I did notice Flocke hand it to him and it was enough to catch my attention, for a brief moment.
(And this means nothing. So I'll shut up.)

2. Flocke is satan. The end.

3. I dunno if Lapidus is dead. But I love him. And he was the only pilot on that island. Until we learned that Locke (alterna-Locke) is a pilot, TOO! Dun-dun-duuuunnnnnnn.

4. I think the timelines are gonna merge...or something...and their lives are gonna resume off-island, as they've been playing out this season. Therefore...YAY for Sun and Jin and Ji-Yeon. 'Cause they'll be alive and together and happy and Rose (I miss her!) can throw them a fabulous baby shower.

I'm only hoping for this because I need a Sawyer/Juliet reunion like a crackhead needs his next fix.

Is all I'm saying.

Ash said...

Second best line - "there is no Sayid."

Ouch.

The backpack - I woke up Hubs sleeping next to me (yes, he's not a fan - the divorce is pending ;-) yelling "Locke gave you the wrong pack!"

Sun and Jin - ugh.

Hurley bawling - double ugh.

Jack crying - not so much. Not a pretty crier. Shhh, it's OK - come to Mama.

RIP Lawnmower Man.

Karen M. Peterson said...

I had the same thought about AlternaLOST. I hope it's real.

I think Lapidus is dead. That blasted door hit him REALLY hard.

I was super glad Sayid died saving everyone else. Good to see him get some redemption. Although, I kind of wonder if the bomb would have still gone off if Sawyer hadn't messed with it and Sayid had not run away with it. One of those trees in the forest sort of unanswerable questions.

Claire's gonna be PISSED now. I hope there is still some way for her to trust Kate again.

Hurley made me sob like crazy. So did Jack. But especially Hurley.

Karen M. Peterson said...

Oh, and I didn't know WHAT the plot was exactly, but I knew something was very, very wrong when Flocke gave Jack the backpack and shoved him toward the sub.

Rachael said...

Yeah, the Hurley sob? So not fair. Also, when Jack yelled "There IS NO Sayid!" at Hurley, it hurt my heart. Even though Sayid was supposedly all bad and weird now. WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO ME?!

Michelle said...

I was so upset over Sun & Jin that I couldn't sleep! I was screaming and sobbing at my tv, saying things like "if Sun & Jin are dead, then love is dead!" "She's like 95 pounds she can't wiggle out there?" "Try taking your pants off or something! Just DO something!" I know... I was crazy for a while.

After Sayid (I'll miss him terribly too) blew up I thought Lost would kill off our beloved characters one by one, but then 4 in one episode! What the hell are they trying to do to us? Jorge Garcia's Blog Geronimo Jack's Beard mentions "Poor Sayid, Jin, Sun and Lapidus" - so I assume Lapidus didn't make it. He is the only pilot!

All the role reversal between Jack and Locke in AlternaLost I thought was quite awesome.

Sawyer is going to be so disappointed when he finds Anthony Cooper, will he kill a handicapped man? How has Helen's brain anyeurism not killed her yet? (Abbadon told real-Locke last season she died of a brain anyeurism and took him to her grave).

I agree that our beloved castaways are going to end up enlightened in their AlternaLost bodies. They'll die one after the other, except Jack, who will be the islands new protector. The show started with Jack (remember Jack's eye opening in the pilot) it's going to end with Jack, probably closing his eye. lol.

I'm off to listen to Jorge's podcast about the episode

Melissa said...

Okay, I tried to leave a comment the other day, but it didn't take and I really don't feel like trying to type it all over again. I'll just say that this episode saddened me. Especially Sun and Jin. What do you think happened to Lapidus?
I'm starting to think that Jack is Jacob's Candidate and Claire will be Locke's replacement (if there is a such a thing). I dont' know what to think anymore. I'm just getting anxious that this will be over soon and I won't have it all figured out.